A new record being set: Mahrukh Chohan becomes country's youngest CSS officer

Mahrukh Chohan, a 23-year-old Bahawalpur resident, has joined the Pakistan Customs Service Group as the youngest Central Superior Services (CSS) officer.

She received CSS (50 Common) Pakistan Customs Service Group after being ranked 73rd in the CSS examination 2021. With this achievement, she became not only the year's youngest Customs officer, but also the youngest Customs officer in Pakistan's history.

Chohan hails from the Kharian Tehsil of Gujrat, Punjab, and is the daughter of Major (Retd.) Muhammad Akhtar Abid Chohan. She attended schools at many cantonments and had to move schools frequently due to her father's assignments. Regardless, she persevered on her path to achievement.

Chohan, who passed the CSS exam on her first attempt, stated that she did not study at an academy to prepare for it, rather studied independently. She graduated from the National University of Science and Technology (NUST) in Islamabad with a bachelor's degree in accounting and finance. Chohan also said that the pandemic caused issues in her finishing her last semester on schedule.

"At first, the university was closed, and then the university took the online exam later." "I graduated in June 2020, and I passed my CSS exam in February 2021," she stated, adding that the pandemic-induced lockdowns had helped her prepare for the CSS exam.

In response to a question, Chohan stated that taking the CSS exam is more of a test of nerves than knowledge or abilities. She further added that her family is from Kharian, but that she and her family had been living in Bahawalpur for the past ten years due to her father's post-retirement employment.